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Chisholm council ruffled by criticism over failed studio
Looks like MinnesotaBrown.com made the paper. At the Aug. 11 Chisholm City Council meeting, Mayor Mike Jugovich and other city councilors criticized council candidate Brandan Fiedler for sharing on Facebook a blog post I wrote several weeks ago. Marie Tolonen of the Chisholm Tribune Press wrote a story about this exchange that also ran in the Hibbing Daily Tribune on…
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For most, a mind is a terrible thing to change
Lately, logging onto Facebook has been a little like making a daily visit to the hospital to watch someone’s condition deteriorate. No, I’m not talking about cat videos. Even the insipid game requests hearken to a more bygone era of wasting time on the internet. No, I’m talking about the art of politics as performed by…
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‘Be Prepared’ for change
When a Boy Scout or Girl Scout heads into the woods, he or she is prepared for any number of changing conditions. Rain. Wind. Long hikes or vigorous paddling on a choppy lake. The one thing constant in life is change. And really, all you can do is what the Boy Scouts preach: Be Prepared.…
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Sandstede wins House 6A DFL primary
As we reported last night, music teacher and union leader Julie Sandstede (DFL-Hibbing) advances to the Nov. 8 general election in Minnesota House District 6A. She’ll face Republican special education teacher Rob Farnsworth of Hibbing and active write-in candidate and union equipment operator Steven Hakly of Cherry. Sandstede’s win surprised many, including me. But looking at the…
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LIVE BLOG: Primary Night on the Iron Range
Welcome to the Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016 MinnesotaBrown primary election live blog. Your intrepid host Aaron Brown will provide analysis of Iron Range results throughout the evening. We’ll pay close attention to the House 6A DFL contest and St. Louis County commissioner races. 11:00: There will be more to write in coming days, but we can…
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Help on the way for St. Louis County workers
County government is probably the most overlooked part of our democracy, and yet in Minnesota it’s the point of contact for the people who need the most help. This includes the messy work of law enforcement, child protection and family welfare, social services and the very apparatus of humane treatment of our citizens. When county government…
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Cliffs to unveil ‘Mustang’ pellet project at UTac
On Thursday, Cliffs Natural Resources breaks ground on its “mustang” pellet project at United Taconite in Eveleth. The $64 million investment coincides with the imminent shuttering of the Empire Mine in Michigan, and resulting demand for specialized iron ore pellets by Cliffs’ customer ArcelorMittal. The revival of United Taconite (still called by its old name, “EvTac,” by your average Iron…
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Range DFLers hurtle toward Tuesday’s 6A primary
It’s Primary Election Eve in Minnesota. Tuesday, Aug. 9, brings the statewide primary election, in which local candidate pools will be narrowed and parties will sort out their nomination battles for state and federal offices. Today I’ll analyze the only major Iron Range legislative primary: the House 6A race to succeed State Rep. Carly Melin (DFL-Hibbing).…
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Only time knows ‘truth’ of Great River
With more than 1,000 lakes and many rivers, Itasca remains one of Minnesota’s most watery counties. And like the old adage goes, “whiskey is for drinking, but water is for starting wars.” The word “Itasca” comes from the inner syllables of the Latin words “Veritas” and “Caput,” meaning “Truth” and “Head” of the Mississippi River.…
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Remembering the author and storyteller Jim Northrup
Jim Northrup was devastatingly funny. That means two things. He was a naturally funny writer and speaker, a gifted storyteller. But Northrup also used his humor to heal the devastation of mind, body and spirit. Northrup died Monday after battling cancer and other health ailments for the past couple years. If you’ve heard of Northrup, you’ve…
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Enbridge may drop Sandpiper pipeline
The controversial Sandpiper oil pipeline that would have cut across Northern Minnesota’s lakes region might be going down the drain. Enbridge, which sought to build the pipeline connecting Canadian shale oil supplies to a refinery in Superior, Wisconsin, is now working with a partner to buy into a different pipeline. Enbridge and Marathon Oil would…
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The man who saw the forest and the trees
Jack Rajala was a lumberman. He was the son of a lumberman. He was the father of a lumberman. Trees were his business, and he knew his business well. The Rajala company is one of the best known timber and lumber operations in Itasca County, and has been for generations. But that’s not the main reason I had…
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Researchers list ideas for Range economic resilience
Economic diversification on Northern Minnesota’s Iron Range has been a hot topic ever since I learned how to spell those words, and surely long before that. The darnedest thing about the subject is that most folks will support the concept of diversification, but fewer will accept a role in making it happen. This is only amplified by what is,…
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‘Today Show’ highlights BWCA, mining debate
The debate over copper/nickel mining in Northern Minnesota reached national news this morning. The weekend edition of NBC’s “Today Show” profiled Dave and Amy Freeman. This Ely and Grand Marais couple have been living in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness for more than 300 days. The Freemans started their year in the BWCA to…
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New bike park planned for Itasca County
A long, long time ago, humans arrived in Northern Minnesota on narrow, bumpy paths that wound through trees and around walls of ancient rock. It’s the future now. People look forward to the next big thing. In the future, what we want is … a narrow, bumpy path wound through trees and around walls of…